5 Sikh takhts
- January 5, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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5 Sikh takhts
Subject – Art and Culture
Context – PM to lay foundation stone for ₹42,750-cr projects in UP.
The green field expressway will connect key Sikh religious sites at SultanpurLodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran and the holy Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi in Katra.
Concept –
- Takht is a Persian word that means imperial throne. At present Sikhs recognise five places as takhts.
- Three are in Punjab —Akal Takht (Amritsar); Takht Keshgarh Sahib (Anandpur Sahib); Takht Damdama Sahib (Talwandi Sabo) — and the other two are Takht Patna Sahib (Bihar) and Takht Hazur Sahib (Nanded, Maharashtra).
Akal Takht
- Akal Takht (Throne of the Timeless One) is the oldest of the takhts, and considered supreme among the five.
- It was set up in 1606 by Guru Hargobind, whose succession as the sixth Guru after the execution of his father, Guru Arjan Dev, is considered a turning point in Sikh history.
- The Akal Takht, a raised platform that he built in front of the causeway leading to the sanctum sanctorum of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), symbolised the coming together of the temporal authority and the political sovereignty of the Sikh community (miri) with the spiritual authority (piri).
- It is seen as the first marker of Sikh nationalism.
- The Akal Takht is a five-storey building today; the first storey houses the Guru Granth Sahib.
The other four takhts
- The other four takhts are linked to Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru.
- It was at Keshgarh Sahib that Guru Gobind Singh raised Khalsa, the initiated Sikh warriors, in 1699.
- Patna Sahib is his birthplace, and he spent several months in Damdama Sahib and his final days in Hazur Sahib, where he was cremated in 1708.
Damdama Sahib
- Damdama Sahib was the last and the most recent one to be recognised as a takht, through a resolution of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in November 1966, a couple of months after the Reorginsation of States under which Punjab became a separate state.
Role of Takhts
- Takhts are known to issue hukumnamas from time to time on issues that concern the community.
- Akal Takht is supreme because it is the oldest and was created by a Sikh guru himself, say Sikh historians and scholars. Any edict or order concerning the entire community is issued only from Akal Takht.
- Also, it is from Akal Takht that Sikhs found to be violating the Sikh doctrine and code of conduct are awarded religious punishment (declared tankhaiya) and even excommunicated, depending on the degree of violation and failure of adherence to directives of the highest temporal seat of Sikhs.
- Scholars say the first hukamnama was issued by Guru Hargobind from Akal Takht. A seal believed to have been used by Guru Gobind Singh for his edicts is preserved at Damdama Sahib.
- Today, the Akal Takhtjathedar issues edicts for the community, usually reading them out from the balcony of the Akal Takht building, after deliberations with the chiefs of the other four takhts.